fledge capable of flying, from Middle English flegge, from Old English -flycge; akin to Old High German flucki capable of flying,Old English flEogan to fly -- more at FLY

intransitive verb, of a young bird: to acquire the feathers necessary for flight or independent activity

Saturday, July 5, 2008

What we leave behind

We went to the "premier" of WALL•E. Cute movie, no doubt. I can't think of a cuter way to portray a post-apocalyptic world covered in toxic waste. Because it was the "premier", the beautiful El Capitan theater in Hollywood handed out on the way in plastic buckets of popcorn and plastic soda bottles. On the way out, the ushers handed each of us WALL•E LED watches. Come on: For real? Didn't we just watch an hour and forty minutes of Pixar very cutely convincing us to wean ourselves from thoughtless consumer waste? Whatever.

So, this Internet is telling me these buckets will biodegrade in somewhere between 1000 and 1 million years (nobody's been able to watch the decomposition in real time). And there is the note that the decomposition time will decrease as the Earth's temperature rises. See? Global warming is not all bad: We might get a plastic bottle to disappear in a few hundred years, if we bring the surface temperature up to 150 degrees.

Did you know there is an island of plastic floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that is the size of the State of Texas? Or twice the size? Or twice the size of the United States? I kind of doubt that last estimation. But the size of Texas is big enough in my opinion. No doubt some WALL•E popcorn buckets will somehow make their way out there to make it the size of Texas plus two buckets.

Nothing against Johnny Depp's hand and foot prints in the cement in front of Grumman's Chinese Theater. I like them just fine. As for me, though, I hope I don't leave too much of a lasting mark on the Earth.

And, yes, this butterfly landed on my son and stayed there. I've mentioned the strange way he attracts butterflies before.

I remember those buckets so well. At Halloween at Pixar we always got the left over buckets for Halloween candy and we (my family) still have some that we "recycle" by using them over and over. Of course, I never thought about how many of those are handed out and left behind at movie theaters and it is really a shame that they are not environmentally friendly. Since I know that Pixar is a very environmentally friendly company, I am sure they would listen if someone brought it up and carry the message to Disney.Btw. I agree with Sandra... Diese Augen!!!

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About Me

There are four interdependent elements of flight: Lift, thrust, drag and weight. I will categorize each entry in this flight log/blog according to each of these elements of flight. Many things, for example, will end up in the Weight category. While Weight may seem the antithesis of flight, it is usually the things making up the weight--the passengers or payload--that are the reason for initiating flight. Therefore, no Weight, no flight. Thrust will be the things that inspire and propel me and, hopefully, us higher and farther. Drag will be the things that slow me and us down. And Lift will be those magic moments when we leave the earth and soar.

There is an art, or rather a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. ~Douglas Adams, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

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